Archive for November 2018

Jack Hunter- Spivey visits Greenbank Sports Academy as part of Travel to Tokyo Get Set Programme

Monday, November 19th, 2018

We had a visit from Jack Hunter Spivey on Tuesday 20th November to promote the Travel to Tokyo programme and inspire facility users and Greenbank College students to get involved. Jack, who is from Liverpool, is a Paralympic Table Tennis player currently ranked 7th in the world. He is a 10 times British champion and Rio 2016 Paralympian.

Travel to Tokyo is part of Get Set, Team GB and Paralympics GB’s youth engagement programme, created with funding from Sport England, and delivered in partnership with ukactive and Liverpool City Council. The programme aimsto inspire young people aged 5–11, their classmates and families to try new activities and get active together in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. By joining athletes on a virtual journey from London to Tokyo, participants will be in with the chance to learn new skills, have fun and win some fantastic prizes along the way.

This Autumn, Travel to Tokyo is running as a pilot in the Liverpool and Merseyside area, with the aim to launch nationwide in 2019. The main aim of the pilot is to inspire young people and families to try new things, get active together and have fun, logging their physical activity to their child’s team.

Teams are set up by schools, then it is over to children and families to log their activity. Each week, teams are set personalised targets based on their previous week’s performance, inspiring children and families to improve their activity levels whatever their starting point. Teams will earn rewards for meeting or exceeding their weekly target, including active kit and athlete visits.

According to recent research carried out by Sport England, 4 in 5 young people are not doing the 60 minutes of daily exercise recommended by the Chief Medical Officer. This research shows the inactivity is linked with a family’s income. Travel to Tokyo has been created to get pupils aged 5–11 and their families more active, showing them that exercise doesn’t have to be complicated or long and we can get our suggested hour from small short burst throughout our daily routine.

Key messages we are trying to promote with the programme:

Enjoying staying active after school and at weekends and keeping going during the colder months.

Trying something new– exploring various ways of getting active, not just traditional sports.

Enjoying getting active together as a family.

Loving active Liverpool and Merseyside (i.e. mentioning local places or events, share your favourite active days out or places to go for a walk/ run/ cycle).

Children and families can log activity at participating leisure centres across Liverpool and Merseyside. Greenbank Sports Academy is one of these centres and visitors can take a picture at the Travel to Tokyo photoboard and log activity completed in the centre or nearby on a tablet. Greenbank has an extensive weekly programme of inclusive sessions that participants can join in with.

Power Football Tournament is a platform for disability sports being developed by Greenbank Sports Academy

Friday, November 16th, 2018

The Kick it Out Power Football Tournament took place on Thursday 8 November at Greenbank Sports Academy. After some fast and furious games, St George’s Knights were unbeaten against the Greenbank and Greenbank Development teams. However, they weren’t so lucky in the demonstration game of Power Hockey, a new disability sport currently being developed at Greenbank Sports Academy, and were beaten by Greenbank. Winners were presented awards by Shane Parkes of North West Training Council and Lawrence Brown, Green Party Councillor for Greenbank Ward.

People from a cross section of Sporting Bodies, Community Groups, and sports fans were invited to come along to watch the action together with some of our funders who have helped fund our disability sport development programme including Steve Morgan Foundation, Variety North West and Kick it Out.

Gosia McHale from Steve Morgan Foundation said: “I really enjoyed attending the power football tournament. It was so good to see the pleasure the games gave to the young people. I hope it grows and gives opportunities to more and more young people.”

Representatives from North West Training Council also attended. They have been instrumental, with help from Jaguar Land Rover apprentices, in contributing to the design and production of the new Power Sports chairs that enable more disabled people to take part in these exciting sports.

The tournament was arranged as part of the Liverpool Journey to Justice campaign and was a chance for Greenbank Sports Academy to show their passion and contribution to delivering inclusive physical activities to disabled residents of Liverpool.

The event was supported by Kick it Out, Steve Morgan Foundation and The Variety Club without whose help the event would not be possible. Thanks also go to all the volunteers who helped at the event to make it a great success and to Zut Media who filmed the event.

Power Football and Power Hockey Photo Gallery

We hosted the Merseyside Schools Pan Disability Boccia Tournament on Monday 5 November at Greenbank Sports Academy. 97 children took part from 9 schools and the standard of play has improved again this year with some excellent games. Congratulations go to the winners, Knowsley Central D, who were unbeaten throughout the day.

The top four teams of the tournament get the chance to represent Merseyside in the Lord’s Taverners Regional Pan Disability Boccia Competition that takes place on Thursday 7 February 2019 here at Greenbank Sports Academy. Teams going through are Knowsley Central D, Woodchurch High, Clare Mount B and Lansbury Bridge C.

A big thank you to all volunteers from the Greenbank Giants and individuals who did an excellent job in helping the tournament to run as smoothly as possible. Thank you also to Lord’s Taverners, Boccia England and Panathlon Challenge for providing resources to support the event.